Senate passes new covid relief bill

[Cow Poke]

That 8.1 earth quake the other day. Starlight tripped and fell, that was the impact of his Ego on the ground.

[RumTumTugger]

What responsible working states are you referring to? Most Red States are in the red and rely on federal $$ that come from Blue State taxpayers. Our national GDP comes largely from Blue State economies.

until you give me a citation about the GDP coming from Blue states instead the Blue states taking from it I'm going to have to disagree with your OPINION because it isn't the Red States that are asking for help and getting it because they mishandled their budgets and the covid panic it is California, New York, and New Jersey or are you saying that those three states are Red States?

BTW this is not a covid relief bill it is a bunch of pork with only 9% going for covid relief it's like you making drink that is 91% water and only 9% kool-aid and lying saying it is Kool-aid not flavored water. The Democrats are Lying to the American people just like they did about Trump's Tax bill.

[Ronson]

That 8.1 earth quake the other day. Starlight tripped and fell, that was the impact of his Ego on the ground.

If Star didn't have such a massive ego, he would realize that the US economy is greatly affected by fuel costs.

Biden has killed the Keystone pipeline ... POW!
Biden suspended all new leases for oil and gas on public lands ... POW!
He has "paused" offshore oil and gas leasing ... POW!
He said he plans to ban or curtail fracking ... POW!
He has begun firing missiles in the Middle East (yay for the military industrial complex) which should drive up OPEC oil .. POW!

Oh sure, he's such a wonderful champion for the middle class. By the time he's done decimating it, we'll all be riding bicycles and living in caves. But that would suit Star anyway.

[Sparko]

If Star didn't have such a massive ego, he would realize that the US economy is greatly affected by fuel costs.

Biden has killed the Keystone pipeline ... POW!
Biden suspended all new leases for oil and gas on public lands ... POW!
He has "paused" offshore oil and gas leasing ... POW!
He said he plans to ban or curtail fracking ... POW!
He has begun firing missiles in the Middle East (yay for the military industrial complex) which should drive up OPEC oil .. POW!

Oh sure, he's such a wonderful champion for the middle class. By the time he's done decimating it, we'll all be riding bicycles and living in caves. But that would suit Star anyway.

yup. Gas is set to go over $3/gallon soon. The MSM is claiming it's because the economy is "waking up" but that's a lie. It's because of Biden. Before COVID, gas was running around $2.40/gallon.
And higher gas prices means higher transportation and shipping costs, which gets passed to the consumer, meaning goods cost more.

[Cow Poke]

yup. Gas is set to go over $3/gallon soon. The MSM is claiming it's because the economy is "waking up" but that's a lie. It's because of Biden. Before COVID, gas was running around $2.40/gallon.
And higher gas prices means higher transportation and shipping costs, which gets passed to the consumer, meaning goods cost more.

WAIT!!! You mean those extra costs just don't magically disappear? They get passed on to CONSUMERS? You think Biden knows this?

[Ronson]

yup. Gas is set to go over $3/gallon soon. The MSM is claiming it's because the economy is "waking up" but that's a lie. It's because of Biden. Before COVID, gas was running around $2.40/gallon.
And higher gas prices means higher transportation and shipping costs, which gets passed to the consumer, meaning goods cost more.

Before covid, in my region, gas was right around about $2.00-to-$2.15 a gallon. I credit that in large part to Trump's energy policies. Once covid hit, it dropped all the way down to .97¢ per gallon for a single day (somewhere around May?) then slowly climbed back up.

Biden and the Democrats have jumped on the globalist pursuit toward clean energy, and they don't care how they achieve that or who it hurts. Elitists want a "clean" planet, and the middle class are a nuisance to them anyway, so they let them suffer. The technology needs to come first, not government mandates.

et al, the little people will pay for elitist desires, thank to Democrats and their hostility toward the middle class.

[Ronson]

WAIT!!! You mean those extra costs just don't magically disappear? They get passed on to CONSUMERS? You think Biden knows this?

I doubt we'll ever know. My wife was watching the Today Show this morning (ugh). Their Biden story was about China Biden's dog "nipping" a secret service agent and was put out of the White House as punishment. That's the MSM for ya!

[Sparko]

WAIT!!! You mean those extra costs just don't magically disappear? They get passed on to CONSUMERS? You think Biden knows this?

It's true!

[Sparko]

Before covid, in my region, gas was right around about $2.00-to-$2.15 a gallon. I credit that in large part to Trump's energy policies. Once covid hit, it dropped all the way down to .97¢ per gallon for a single day (somewhere around May?) then slowly climbed back up.

Biden and the Democrats have jumped on the globalist pursuit toward clean energy, and they don't care how they achieve that or who it hurts. Elitists want a "clean" planet, and the middle class are a nuisance to them anyway, so they let them suffer. The technology needs to come first, not government mandates.

et al, the little people will pay for elitist desires, thank to Democrats and their hostility toward the middle class.

Yeah, rather than incentivizing people to switch to green energy by making it more efficient and cheaper, they want to force people to switch to green by making fossil fuel more expensive artificially.

[RumTumTugger]

It’s getting a lot of praise from economists. If it achieves the results they are projecting then that alone sounds like it will guarantee his second term.

Which economists Watermelon? Here in America Ii'm seeing economists from both sides of the aisle saying this is terrible for our economy. in other words cite your sources for this OPINION of yours.

[Thoughtful Monk]

Which economists Watermelon because here in America i'm seeing economists from both sides of the aisle saying this is terrible for our economy. in other words cite your sources for this OPINION of yours.

Of course, some economists will think it's great, some will think it's horrible, and I'm sure there's some in between. It's why its wrong for either side to claim they have a consensus opinion on the bill.

And now a blast from the past...

[alaskazimm]

Of course, some economists will think it's great, some will think it's horrible, and I'm sure there's some in between. It's why its wrong for either side to claim they have a consensus opinion on the bill.

And now a blast from the past...

You have my upvote for quoting Bloom County, a comic way ahead of its time.

[Starlight]

Before covid, in my region, gas was right around about $2.00-to-$2.15 a gallon. I credit that in large part to Trump's energy policies. Once covid hit, it dropped all the way down to .97¢ per gallon for a single day (somewhere around May?) then slowly climbed back up.

Biden and the Democrats have jumped on the globalist pursuit toward clean energy, and they don't care how they achieve that or who it hurts. Elitists want a "clean" planet, and the middle class are a nuisance to them anyway, so they let them suffer. The technology needs to come first, not government mandates.

The technology is here. I bought a hybrid primarily because it saves me money on fuel. It gets 3-4 times the range per gallon of my previous, relatively fuel-efficient, car.

thank to Democrats and their hostility toward the middle class.

You're obsessed with this crazily false statement. The Dems built the middle class under FDR and the presidents that followed, back when the Dems almost always had federal majorities. Reaganomics did much to destroy that, and fools like Bill Clinton 'triangulated' in order to bring as much Republican policy into their administrations as possible and so perpetuated the Republican destruction of the middle class and service to the elites. More recent democratic administrations have done a better job of getting back on the right side of history and doing more to help the middle class, whereas the Republican administrations have consistently done huge tax giveaways to the mega-rich. If you want to be a gullible fool and vote Republican in service to the elites I guess they'll laugh at you all the way to the bank.

Fundamentally, in politics, the elites need to be opposed, and the middle class bolstered. That is why the left wing exists in politics. That's the whole point of it, over and against the right wing which exists to serve the interests of the elites. That's why supporting the left wing is the fundamentally correct and moral position, to improve society, and support the masses over the silver-spoon elites. That's politics 101.

[Starlight]

Here in America Ii'm seeing economists from both sides of the aisle saying this is terrible for our economy.

You must watch/read some nutso economists. Any economist who thinks government spending would hurt the economy, particular during a time of great need like this, needs their head examined.

To be fair, most economists do need their heads examined.

Since you wanted a quote, here's the Brookings Institute on the subject:

We estimate that the package would boost economic activity, as measured by the level of real gross domestic product (GDP), by about 4 percent at the end of 2021 and 2 percent at the end of 2022, relative to a projection that assumes no additional fiscal support. ...Without [this] additional fiscal support, we project that real GDP would [have] remain[ed] below the pre-pandemic level for the next several years.

See also: Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus could drastically cut poverty, studies say:

Two different studies anticipate that the legislation will have a dramatic effect, projecting that millions of Americans will no longer be living in poverty in 2021... A study out of the Center on Poverty & Social Policy at Columbia University found that the package could nearly halve child poverty.... Meanwhile, a study from the Urban Institute finds the plan would cut [total] poverty by over a third.

[Mountain Man]

Any economist who thinks government spending would hurt the economy, particular during a time of great need like this, needs their head examined.

If this was a case where the government had a stockpile of money and then released it into the "wild" then it would maybe be a good thing, but that's not how most governments operate, they don't have savings or ready access to wealth and so do one of three things: 1) borrow the money; 2) simply print more currency; 3) increase taxes which, at least in the United States, primarily impacts the middle class worker. More often than not, it's a combination of these things. Individually, each one is bad for the economy. Combined, they can be devastating. The best and proven way to reinvigorate the economy is to slash taxes and government spending.